Illuminated Homilies on John
John Chrysostom, 1470
CHRYSOSTOM, John (c.349-407). Homiliae super Johannem. Translated by Franciscus Griffolinus. Rome: Georgius Lauer for the Monastery of St. Eusebius, 29 October 1470.

A beautifully illuminated first edition of Saint John Chrysostom’s homilies on the Gospel of John. Chrysostom, whose name means “golden-mouthed” in Greek, was a prolific fourth century preacher and theologian who operated in Antioch and Constantinople. This edition was printed by Georgius Lauer, a German publisher who worked out of the Monastery of St. Eusebius and seems to have inherited the types used by Pannartz, and dedicated to Cosimo de’ Medici. An 18th-century note on the first blank cites Montfaucon and identifies the “translator vetus” mentioned in the prefatory letter as Burgundio of Pisa. ISTC ij00286000; GW M13300; Bod-inc J-128.

Folio (339 x 227mm). 279 leaves (of 280, without initial blank). Partial white vine-stem border in gold, red, blue, and green; 2 illuminated white vine-stem initials, 5- and 7-lines; 2- to 3-line initials in blue (last 2 leaves stained at edges with some worming and chipping; some browning). 19th-century brown morocco gilt (joints a little scuffed). Provenance: early marginal comments and corrections – Sir John Thorold, 9th Baronet (1734-1815; bookplate; his sale, Sotheby’s, 16 December 1884, lot 1040) – John William Pease (bookplate) – Lord Wardington (bookplate; his sale, Sotheby’s, 5 December 2006, lot 25) – Ritman Library (bookplate).